QC officials warned vs letting squatters live in danger zone

Following last week’s landslide which killed nine persons in Quezon City, Mayor Herbert Bautista ordered barangay officials to stop the entry of informal settlers into the danger zone.

At the same time, he gave priority to the construction of a hospital near Barangay Commonwealth, saying that the victims could have been saved if they had been given immediate medical attention.

“It was possible that people could have been saved if they [had been] brought to a nearby hospital,” Bautista said in a statement as he noted that the victims were taken to a hospital five kilometers away.

The mayor issued the warning to barangay officials after Interior Secretary Jessie Robredo declared the 7,000-sq m area on Litex Road in Barangay Commonwealth a danger zone.

Robredo also stressed the urgency of relocating residents in the area to avoid exposing them to danger.

Meanwhile, the mayor pushed for the construction next year of a well-equipped medical facility in Batasan Hills, saying that the landslide showed the need for a hospital in the area.

“The construction of a three-story hospital in the District II area will [mean] better health services [for] city residents, especially poor families who are mostly residing in the district,” he said.

Bautista added that he would ask for help from House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and some senators to ensure funding for the project.

“I want to make health and medical services more accessible to as many families as possible,” he said.